350 CHEMICAL DISCOVERY AND INVENTION 



the violet, tuberose, jasmine, as well as orange for the sake of 

 the flowers beside the fruit. The slopes of the Alpes Maritimes 

 and the Basses Alpes are in many places covered with wild 

 lavender, both Lavandula vera and L. spica, from both of which 

 the essential oil is distilled by means of portable stills which are 

 carried from place to place. There are also factories where the 

 plant is dealt with on a larger scale. 



The following figures show the value of imports into and 

 exports from France both of essential oils and synthetic per- 

 fumes. The imports of the latter have been chiefly derived from 

 Germany. 



Essential Oils 



Year. Imports. Exports. 



1913 . . 2,827,100 . . 33,812,600 francs. 



1912 .. 2,880,500 .. 38,740,000 



1911 .. 2,687,600 . , 32,802,000 



Synthetic Perfumes 

 Year. Imports. Exports. 



1913 . . 1,378,000 . . 164,000 francs. 



1912 .. 1,424,000 .. 192,000 ,. 

 1911 .. 1,372,000 .. 168,000 



As may be imagined the prices of the individual oils dift'er 

 greatly. Among the most costly are natural otto of rose of 

 which the price wholesale is according to an American price list 

 from 5 to 5J dollars per ounce, while bergamot is only 3| to 4 

 dollars per pound. 



The best neroli from orange flowers is from 50 to 75 dollars 

 per pound, while peppermint is less than 2J dollars per pound. 



It is interesting to glance at the pages of one of the trade 

 journals in which essential oils and perfumes are advertised, for 

 there one may trace evidence of the progress made in our own 

 time in the application of chemical knowledge, and the extent 

 to which the artificial are now competing with the natural 

 essences. Other evidence has already been given in the value 

 of the imports and exports of such materials into France. The 

 table last quoted shows that though that country retains its 

 position as the greatest producer of natural perfumes, the 

 amount of imported synthetics already reached in 1913 a note- 

 worthy figure. Whether this is likely to continue in the future 



